The Quatrain of Seven Steps

The Seven Steps Verse, also known as the Quatrain of Seven Steps (七步诗, Qi1 Bu4 Shi1), is a highly allegorical poem of Classical Chinese literature that is usually attributed to the dynastical work Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The famed scene (79th "hui") describes Cao Pi's suspicions of his brother Cao Zhi trying to usurp his rule (Cao Pi was also jealous of his brother's talents, particularly his masterful command of imagery). Consequently, Cao Zhi is summoned to the court and is issued an ultimatum in which he must produce a poem within seven strides such that Cao Pi is convinced of his innocence. Cao Zhi does so, and Cao Pi becomes so flustered with emotion that he spares his brother, although he later exacts punishment upon Cao Zhi in the form of demotion. The poem itself is written in the traditional "five-character quatrain" style and is an extended metaphor that describes the relationship of two brothers and the ill-conceived notion of one harming the other over petty squabbling.

There exists two versions of the poem, one being six lines in length and the other four. The former is generally thought to be original; however, the "燃" character that is (often) used in the former generates confusion over its authenticity. Additionally, the purported original verse includes two extra (redundant or otherwise superfluous) lines, which serves the purpose of parallelism but does not add any additional meaning already conveyed (within the scope of its original use).

Version 1

煮豆持作羹，Zhu3 Dou4 Chi2 Zuo4 Geng1,
漉鼓以为汁。Lu4 Chi3 Yi3 Wei2 Zhi1.
萁在釜下燃，Qi2 Zai4 Fu3 Xia4 Ran2,
豆在釜中泣。Dou4 Zai4 Fu3 Zhong1 Qi4.
本是同根生，Ben3 Shi4 Tong2 Gen1 Sheng1,
相煎何太急? Xiang1 Jian1 He2 Tai4 Ji2?

"Boiling the beans to create the soup,"
"filtering them to extract the juice."
"The beanstalks were charred amidst the flames,"
"and of this the beans thus wailed:"
"Borne are we of the same root;"
"should you now burn me with such disregard?"

Version 2

煮豆燃豆萁，Zhu3 Dou4 Ran2 Dou4 Qi2,
豆在釜中泣。Dou4 Zai4 Fu3 Zhong1 Qi4.
本是同根生，Ben3 Shi4 Tong2 Gen1 Sheng1,
相煎何太急? Xiang1 Jian1 He2 Tai4 Ji2?

The translation for this version is more or less the same, with the notable exception of the condensing of the first three lines into one: "Boiling the beans while charring the stalks..."

Note: Cao Zhi uses several characters to describe the various processes of cooking and refining beans. Among those mentioned are: 煮 (boil), 漉 (filter), 燃 (skewer or char), 泣 (a pun on 蒸汽 "steam", the qi4 here actually means "to cry"), and 煎 (to pan-fry using oil).